The EU wanted to encourage pro-Europe candidate Tadic, and went way too far in accommodating Serbia vis-à-vis the Stabilisation and Association Agreements, suggests Sasa Vidmajer. The EU is abandoning its principles in order to reach a solution on the Kosovo issue. "Brussels has insisted for years that there would be no agreement with the EU until war criminals are arrested, and now European policy has revealed itself to be unprincipled and unreliable. ... Europe's message regarding Serbia is catastrophic: The EU goes easy on a state that protects alleged war criminals and fails to uphold European values. Also caught in this trap is Slovenia, which currently holds the EU Council presidency. … The Netherlands remains the only country to stick to the principle that the Kosovo issue should not be bound to Serbia's chances for EU membership." (21/01/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Ampliación de la UE, » Política de la UE, » Política interior, » Europa, » Serbia
Todos los textos disponible de » Sasa Vidmajer

The close results in the first round of voting shows that a majority of Serbs want both EU membership and Kosovo, says Frank Herold. "But the country will have to decide what is more important: the attempt to defend something that is irretrievably lost, or the chance to benefit in the future. Serbia has stood at this crossroads more than once – and too often chosen the wrong direction. … If the offer of the EU turns out to be not enough, if the majority of Serbs also choose the radical nationalists in the decisive election round, it would also be a setback for Europe. But first and foremost it would be a setback for Serbs themselves. Because they no longer can prevent the secession of Kosovo, and the approach to Europe would be blocked for the foreseeable future." (21/01/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Ampliación de la UE, » Política interior, » Europa, » Serbia
Todos los textos disponible de » Frank Herold

Doris Kraus considers a closer connection between Serbia and Russia to be pure election campaign banter: "The looming independence of Kosovo is another low blow to Serbian pride. And of course it's the fault of the West. It's no wonder, given this background, that Serbia diligently plays the 'east card' in its election game: nationalist Tomislav Nikolic suggests that Serbia's political salvation lies in a close association with Russia. But this trump card doesn't win, because it recklessly avoids reality. It ignores the fact that Serbia is within Europe, and that it will soon enough be encircled by EU States." (21/01/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Ampliación de la UE, » Política de seguridad / Crisis / Guerras, » Política interior, » Serbia
Todos los textos disponible de » Doris Kraus

"After all these years, we are still at square one: how to get rid of the legacy left by [Slobodan] Milosevic?", comments the political analyst Bratislav Grubacic in an interview conducted by Mara Gergolet. "We have inherited so many disastrous things - corruption, an economical debacle, international isolation - that no government has managed a real transition. ... They [the radicals] are anti-establishment, Eurosceptic extremists. This is a phenomenon of dissent common in numerous eastern European countries. ... All this is the result of the war in the Balkans. It has not always been easy to understand who won and who lost. Take the case of Kosovo: nobody explained to the Serbs that hey had lost this war." (21/01/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales, » Política de la UE, » Serbia
Todos los textos disponible de » Bratislav Grubacic, » Mara Gergolet

In an interview with William Bourton, the philologist and historian Milad Doueihi considers that digital technology contributes to democracy as long as citizens remain vigilant. "One notion is capital for me, that of 'digital competence'. In my opinion, it is up to each of us to be as informed as possible if we are not to become passive users and thus victims. Victims exploited by technology or victims of an intellectual pauperization, through lack of access to things we have a right to. It is therefore not just a question of getting to know the tools, but also one of understanding the social, economic and political potential of the digital environment. For citizenship to function properly, we need to move towards the thorough teaching of digital culture with all of its specifics." (21/01/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Medios de comunicación online, » Global
Todos los textos disponible de » Milad Doueihi, » William Bourton

Tunisian theologian Amel Grami speaks with Beat Stauffer about tendencies toward re-Islamization among Tunisian women. She explains: "An entire generation of young people have no more dreams, no more ideals, no more future. They simply sense that we have failed. Many of my students understand quite well that a master's degree in Arabic literature isn't worth anything these days. These young people feel humiliated in their own countries. Until a few years ago, young people who felt that their own societies did not respect them would emigrate. Today, the borders are increasingly blocked, and anyone who manages to go to Europe has a tough row to hoe, as an Arab and Muslim. Today, these young people know that they have no hope. And so they escape into religion." (21/01/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Ampliación de la UE, » Religión, » Migración, » Ideología, » África del Norte
Todos los textos disponible de » Amel Grami, » Beat Stauffer

In an interview conducted by Andy Robinson, the British historian Niall Ferguson analyses the economic threats hovering over the United States. "They have become the world's principal debtors and depend on a colossal quantity of foreign capital in order to finance themselves. It suffices to consider how Wall Street banks are looking for injections of capital from Middle Eastern and Asian sovereign funds. This is going to considerably reduce any room for manoeuvre the United States has in these regions. We are going through a subtle transition in financial and geopolitical dependences. Historically, when there have been political conflicts between a debtor and a creditor, it is whoever allocated the credit who got the last word. The United States' main asset has resided in being the best place on the planet for doing business. If they loose that, one can only envisage their long-term decline." (19/01/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales, » Economía política, » Europa, » EE.UU., » África del Norte
Todos los textos disponible de » Niall Ferguson, » Andy Robinson

Flemish author Saskia de Coster presents an ironic suggestion for a peaceful Belgium: "We have this saying that we Belgians are born with a brick in our bellies. There isn't a single mad-builder among us who can resist the urge to construct walls, carry rocks around and fill in all holes. . ... In this sense, the last jobless people with any sense should not be loafing around. They should commence with the construction of a 1,482 kilometre long wall around Belgium, as a way of keeping our prosperous country together, at least symbolically. This was already the plan at the time of the founding of the state in 1830. Belgium's patron saint is, after all, Joseph – the carpenter – who was not married to Mary and yet became a father. Walloons and Flemish never fraternized, but Belgium is still a country that impregnated with progress and harmony. Such a wall would finally join us. Brussels would be secure, and our fatherland would be saved. The Flemish may give the command, the elderly may cross themselves, and the Walloons may work." (21/01/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Bélgica
Todos los textos disponible de » Saskia de Costa

The Mayor of London will be elected on May 1st, 2008. Yasmin Alibhai-Brown reflects on the two front-runners, Ken Livingstone (Labour, currently Mayor)and Boris Johnson (Conservative). "Our capital is dynamic, unpredictable, exciting and at times menacing, glamorous, and though criminally expensive, creative, growing, open, fast, shifting, 'glocal' – meaning local and global – infinitely various, a vast conurbation where the filthy rich have to share localities with the great unwashed, whites with blacks and Asians. ... I see my city as feminine and dead sexy. The blood of many nations courses through her and she will not be tamed nor possessed by any one of the tribes that have made her who she is. So how has it come to pass that once again, for the third election running, the top candidates for the Mayor's job are all white, middle-class men ?" (21/01/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Gran Bretaña
Todos los textos disponible de » Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

Fears of a large neo-Nazi demonstration on the anniversary of the deportation of the Jews of Pilsen to Theresienstadt turned out to be unfounded. The city banned the march, and ultimately not even a dozen neo-Nazis turned up. And no one came from Germany. Zbyněk Petráček comments that this shows that there need to be no worries in connection with the removal of border controls in the Schengen area: "In November, when the Czech border was still patrolled, German neo-Nazis made it to a demonstration in Prague. Today, with no more border controls, they did not show up. President Václav Klaus warned about the risks of Schengen [saying it would also grant freedom of movement to people who don't deserve it]. But in practice, the authorities are clearly in control of the situation. And those warnings merely spread needless anxiety." (21/01/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Ampliación de la UE, » Política interior, » Alemania, » La República Checa
Todos los textos disponible de » Zbyněk Petráček

Ukrainian protesters against the Polish consulate's complicated distribution policy for visas within the Schengen area have blocked border crossings and Polish consulates. Marcin Wojciechowski comments: "The challenges of getting a Polish visa, and the inept methods of Polish border agents, don't do any good to the image of Poland. It's not Schengen's fault. There was plenty of time to prepare for the new visa allocation procedure. ... It's high time the foreign minister took a closer look. Otherwise he'll squander the trust built up over years between Poles and Ukrainians." (21/01/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales, » Política de la UE, » Polonia, » Ucrania
Todos los textos disponible de » Marcin Wojciechowski

Christos Zachopoulos resigned from Greece's Ministry of Culture at the end of December 2007. Blackmailed by one of his former mistresses who threatened to reveal images of their liaison, he even tried to commit suicide. The departure of this close acquaintance of Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis triggered a political scandal which, fuelled by revelations in the press, is getting bigger and bigger. "This 'DVD gate' is going too far", considers Stavros Psiharis. "The events of the past few weeks do not deserve so much attention. It is nonetheless worth noting that those who based their policies on wars waged between newspapers end up the first targets of the system. This affair must be ended before the wound deteriorates even more. And the government and opposition need to take an interest in the country's major political and economic problems, without this coming across as a 'cover-up of the Zachapolous scandal'." (21/01/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Grecia
Todos los textos disponible de » Stavros Psiharis

The columnist Alexandre Adler observes the emergence across the planet of "political formations whose main programmes are linked to territorial problems, issues of geopolitical adherences, and fundamental culture, far more than to the former political criteria of left and right. ... However, like any other historical event, this carries a dark side: the dissolution of old solidarities, as much among social-democrats as among Christian democrats, often for the benefit of more national causes. This reversal immediately represents grave dangers for the EU. ... Like their Flemish cousins, the Germans, Dutch and Scandinavians have all had enough of maintaining budgetary discipline that ensures the strength of the euro while the French and Italians for examples are freeing themselves of this discipline once again, all parties included." (19/01/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Alexandre Adler

In local elections in Graz, Austria's second largest city, the right-wing populist FPÖ [Freedom Party] fared worse than expected – though front-runner Susanne Winter caused a brief national stir over her remarks about the Prophet Muhammad. The party won 11 percent, less than predicted. Conrad Seidl comments: "An important national political conclusion can be drawn from this: Populism has its limits, and it doesn't even always pay off for its supporters. With its demonization of Islam, the FPÖ did not even win points with its own supporters. … Populist statements and radical verbal vulgarities may get a lot of attention – but they don't get many votes at all." (21/01/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Austria
Todos los textos disponible de » Conrad Seidl

Artist Peter Kennard, who has a retrospective coming up in London this January, explains that he has become linked to "a group of young artists who work outside the official art world. Most of them started out painting graffiti on walls. The central figure in this group is Banksy, but although he attracts most of the press coverage, he is surrounded by a growing band of talented, politically committed artists. Our associates come from Spain and Italy, the US, Britain and Palestine. Since the era of the Bush/Blair war in Iraq, this movement has become increasingly politicised, just as my generation was politicised by the war in Vietnam. These are artists who want to connect with the real world, rather than work for the market, which has more of a stranglehold on art than ever. They combine creativity with protest, insisting that art should be more than the icing on the cake for the super-rich." (17/01/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Artes gráficas, » Política Cultural, » Global
Todos los textos disponible de » Peter Kennard

Journalist Mary Regan informs us that "less than 30 minutes of Irish was spoken in the European Parliament in the first full year as an official language - working out at a little less than €13,000 a minute. Despite pressure to have Gaeilge [Irish] recognised as an official language, records show six of our 13 MEPs have never used Irish in parliamentary debates since January 1, 2007. ... EU officials will carry out a review in four years' time to see if its official status should continue. The cost of implementing the language across all EU institutions is estimated to be in the region of €3.5 million. ... There are four interpreters working in the parliament. Two man a booth at a time, and there are two shifts a day for the 10 days the parliament sits each month. These interpreters cost €30,000 a month, which is paid by the EU with contributions from individual member states." (21/01/2008)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Irlanda
Todos los textos disponible de » Mary Regan